In
1919 when the flu killed 40 million people, there was a Doctor who
visited many farmers to see if he could help them combat the flu.
Many of the farmers and their family had contracted it, and many died.

The
doctor came upon one farmer, and to his surprise, everyone in the
household was very healthy. When the doctor asked what the farmer was
doing that was different, the wife replied that she had placed an unpeeled
onion in a dish in the rooms of the home (probably only two rooms back
then). The doctor couldn't believe it and asked if he could have one
of the onions and place it under the microscope. She gave him one, and
when he did this, he did find the flu virus in the onion. It obviously
absorbed the bacteria, therefore, keeping the family healthy.

Now,
I heard this story from my hairdresser in AZ. She said that
several years ago many of her employees were coming down with the flu and so
were many of her customers. The next year she placed several bowls with
onions around in her shop. To her surprise, none of her staff got
sick. It must work... (And no, she is not in the onion business.)

The
moral of the story is, buy some onions and place them in bowls around your
home. If you work at a desk, place one or two in your office or under
your desk or even on top somewhere.. Try it and see what happens.
We did it last year, and we never got the flu.

If
this helps you and your loved ones from getting sick, all the better.
If you do get the flu, it just might be a mild case...Whatever, what have
you to lose? Just a few bucks on onions!!!

Now
there is a P.S. to this, for I sent it to a friend in Oregon who regularly
contributes material to me on health issues. She replied with this
most interesting experience about onions: Thanks for the reminder. I
don't know about the farmer's story...but I do know that I contracted
pneumonia, and needless to say I was very ill. I came across an
article that said to cut both ends off an onion. Put one end on a
fork, and then place the forked end into an empty jar...placing the jar next
to the sick patient at night. It said the onion would be black in the
morning from the germs. Sure enough, it happened just like that...the
onion was a mess, and I began to feel better.

Another
thing I read in the article was that onions and garlic placed around the
room saved many from the black plague years ago. They have powerful
antibacterial, antiseptic properties.

This
is the other note: LEFTOVER ONIONS ARE POISONOUS! I have used an
onion which has been left in the fridge. Sometimes I don't use a whole
one at one time, so I save the other half for later. Now with this
info, I have changed my mind. I will buy smaller onions in the future.

I
had the wonderful privilege of touring Mullins Food Products, makers of
mayonnaise. Mullins is huge, and is owned by 11 brothers and sisters
in the Mullins family. My friend, Jeanne, is the CEO. Questions
about food poisoning
came up, and I wanted to share what I learned from a chemist. The guy
who gave us our tour is named Ed. He's one of the brothers. Ed
is a chemistry expert and is involved in developing most of the sauce
formula. He's even developed sauce formula for McDonald's. Keep
in mind that Ed is a food chemistry whiz.

During
the tour, someone asked if we really needed to worry about mayonnaise.
People are always worried that mayonnaise will spoil. Ed's answer will
surprise you. Ed said that all commercially-made mayo is completely
safe. "It doesn't even have to be refrigerated. No harm in
refrigerating it, but it's not really necessary." He explained
that the pH in mayonnaise is set at a point that bacteria could not survive
in that environment. He then talked about the quintessential picnic,
with the bowl of potato
salad sitting on the table and how everyone blames the mayonnaise
when someone gets sick.

Ed
says that when food
poisoning is reported, the first thing the officials look for is when
the 'victim' last ate ONIONS and where those onions came from (in the potato
salad?). Ed says it's not the mayonnaise (as long as it's not homemade
mayo) that spoils in the outdoors. It's probably the onions, and if
not the onions, it's the POTATOES.

He
explained, onions are a huge magnet for bacteria, especially uncooked
onions. You should never plan to keep a portion of a sliced onion.
He says it's not even safe if you put it in a zip-lock bag and put it in
your refrigerator.

It's
already contaminated enough just by being cut open and out for a bit, that
it can be a danger to you (and doubly watch out for those onions you put on
your hotdogs at the baseball park!)

Ed
says if you take the leftover onion and cook it like crazy you'll probably
be okay, but if you slice that leftover onion and put it on your sandwich,
you're asking for trouble. Both the onions and the moist potato in a
potato salad will attract and grow bacteria faster than any commercial
mayonnaise will even begin to break down.

So,
how's that for news? Take it for what you will. I (the author)
am going to be very careful about my onions from now on. For some
reason, I see a lot of credibility coming from a chemist and a company that
produces millions of pounds of mayonnaise every year.

Please
remember it is dangerous to cut onions and try to use it to cook the next
day. It becomes highly poisonous for even a single night and creates
toxic bacteria which may cause adverse stomach infections because of excess
bile secretions and even food poisoning.